Short Summary

The Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau made a national television broadcast on Wednesday (8 May) following the defeat of his minority Liberal government in the House of Commons on a budget vote.

Description

The Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau made a national television broadcast on Wednesday (8 May) following the defeat of his minority Liberal government in the House of Commons on a budget vote.

It was Mr. Trudeau's second broadcast to the nation in six months -- the last was during the firs weeks of the Arab oil embargo. In Wednesday's broadcast, the Canadian Prime Minister explained what had happened in Parliament and assured canadians that stable government would continue until new elections. He said the defeat of the Budget Bill gave him no choice but to call the elections.

The defeat of the government, and the necessity of an election had become increasingly likely in recent weeks as the New Democratic Party group's discontent with the Trudeau administration began to show. The New Democratic Party and the Conservatives combined to defeat Mr. Trudeau's Liberal Party in a no-confidence motion by 137 votes to 123. The Social Credit Party members voted with the government. It was the first time in Canadian Federal parliamentary history that a government had been defeated on a budget vote, and only the third time a Canadian government has been defeated on the floor of the House.